Desert Animals

OBJECTIVES

To enable the students to know about the lifestyle of animals in the desert.To enable them to understand how they survive under very harsh conditions of the desert.To make them aware about some strange and unique animals found in deserts.To enable the students to get lesson from these animals and to learn how to adjust with adverse situation of life.To enable the learners to extrapolate from the given text.To enable them to use new words and phrases in their own language.

new words

Survive:Continue to live through hardshipRam could not survive in the hot weather of Sahara desert.Scorching: Very hotGerbils:A desert rat Venom : PoisionPoking : hit hard with the fingers, a sharp hand gestures Little kids always poke their nose.Forage : the act of searching for food Mongooses go together for forage.Twitter : sound of birdsScarce : very less in quantityThere is scarcity of food in some of the areas of South Africa.

key points

Deserts are the driest places on the earth.The animals that live in deserts have developed their ability to require less water.Gerbils spend the hottest part of the day in their underground burrows.Darkling beetlescatches drops of moisture on their legs and lift them into the air and drops down into their mouth.In the dry, rocky deserts of America lives a snake called ‘Rattle snake’.It is called rattle snake because it make a sound with its tail.Another animal which lives in desert is Mongoose. Mongooses love to go in search of food together.They are famous for being able to kill snakes without getting hurt.Another animal which lives in desert is the camel. They have long shaggy coats to keep warm in winter and shorter, tidier coats in the summer to keep cool.There are two different kinds of camel in the desert. One is called ‘the Dromedary’. It has only single hump. The other one is called ‘Bactrian camel’ and has two humps.People usually think that camel’s hump is a storage container and it store water in it. But it is not true. Actually humps are full of fat. This fat nourishes the camels when they have nothing to eat.If they have nothing to eat for many days, their humps shrink because fat is used by them.

summary

The lesson ‘Desert Animals’ tells us about the animals who live in the desert. It tells us how they have adapted themselves according to the weather of desert and how they cope up with the harsh atmosphere of desert. Deserts are the driest places on the earth.The animals that live in deserts have developed their ability to require less water. Like Gerbils spend the hottest part of the day in their underground burrows.Darkling beetlescatches drops of moisture on their legs and lift them into the air and drops down into their mouth. In the dry, rocky deserts of America lives a snake called ‘Rattle snake’.It is called rattle snake because it make a sound with its tail.Another animal which lives in desert is Mongoose. Mongooses love to go in search of food together.They are famous for being able to kill snakes without getting hurt.Another animal which lives in desert is the camel. They have long shaggy coats to keep warm in winter and shorter, tidier coats in the summer to keep cool.There are two different kinds of camel in the desert. One is called ‘the Dromedary’. It has only single hump. The other one is called ‘Bactrian camel’ and has two humps.People usually think that camel’s hump is a storage container and it store water in it. But it is not true. Actually humps are full of fat. This fat nourishes the camels when they have nothing to eat.If they have nothing to eat for many days, their humps shrink because fat is used by them.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

What kind of place a desert is?Ans: Deserts are the driest places on the earth and lack rain. Deserts are without rain for months or even years.How does a rattle snake kill its prey?Ans: It kill them with venom and swallow the animals whole like many snakes.Which snake can survive for a year without eating?Ans:Python can survive for a year without eating.Describe how mongooses raise their kitten.Ans:The kittens are raised by the whole group. When most of the adults go out for food one or two males stand behind to guard them. Describe the kinds of camel.Ans:Python can survive for a year without eating.Describe how camel survive without water for many days.Ans: Camel’s humps are full of fat. This fat nourishes the camels when they have nothing to eat.If they have nothing to eat for many days, their humps shrink because fat is used by them in this way they survive without water for many days.

TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS and answers

1. Answer the following questions:- (i) How do desert animals survive without water? Ans. Desert animals survive without water by finding different ways of coping with the harsh conditions. (ii) How do mongooses kill snakes? Ans. Mongooses first make the snakes tired of fighting and when they get tired, they quickly dive in for the kill. (iii) How does the hump of the camels help them to survive when there is no water? Ans. Camels’ humps are full of fat. This fat nourishes the camels when they have nothing to eat.If they have nothing to eat for many days, their humps shrink because fat is used by them in this way the hump of the camels help them to survive when there is no water.

Working with the text

B.Read the words/phrases in the box. With your partner find their meaning in the dictionary.Harsh conditions Harmless Survive Intruder

Threatened Predators Prey Continually Fill in blanks in the following passage with the above words/phrases.

All animals in forests and deserts struggle to survive in harsh conditions.Though most of the animals are harmless, some are dangerous when threatened. If anintruder is noticed, they attack or bite to save themselves. They struggle continually for food and water. Some animals are called predators because they surviveon other animals.

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